On Our Way Down
by sphinxofthenile
Summary: Crisis Core. Genesis knows Angeal wants to make it all better, but the look in his eyes says he’s hurting, too. Angeal/Genesis


**Disclaimer: I don't own them, they own me.  
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**Warning: angst  
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**A/N: Written for the areyougame challange at IJ for the prompt _Angeal/Genesis: hurt/comfort – Genesis knows Angeal wants to make it all better, but the look in his eyes says he's hurting, too. _Heartfelt thanks to gothicdragon752 for the beta reading. I know I should've written something fluffy for Valentine's Day, but meh. Here, have some angst. Reviews are love.**

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"You should eat," Angeal's voice pulls him out of his thoughts and he looks up, eyes as empty as the plate before him.

"Excuse me," and he is already gone, hasty footsteps carrying him towards his room.

"Genesis, wait!" He can hear Angeal calling after him, but he feels too overwhelmed to listen.

Falling apart. Everything is falling apart, and no matter how hard he tries to fix things, they just seem to slip through his fingers. The more desperately he tries, the quicker, it seems.

He's not sure how much longer he can take this.

"Gen."

That voice, so soothing, so gentle, just like the arms that wrapped around him the moment he stopped before his door and Angeal caught up to him.

Angeal, perfect, precious Angeal, always there, always full of patience, full of understanding.

It hurts too to know he doesn't deserve it, any of it. To know that Angeal should just forsake him for his selfish arrogance; for letting him in on the truth that Genesis knew would shatter his friend. And yet Angeal is there, with him, an exile and outcast like he himself.

Not because of what Genesis told him. Not because he believes that this is the only way for them. He is there because it is *Genesis*, his lover, his best friend of eighteen-odd years, his other half, and he still believes he can be saved, that *they* can be saved.

Can they really?

The thought leaves a foul taste in his mouth, and Genesis shoves it away, but as it is with thoughts, it just sinks below the surface and remains there like a splinter under the skin, stinging even as he pulls away but doesn't object to Angeal following him inside.

"What is it?" he asks softly, frames Genesis' face with his palms, thumbs slowly caressing high cheekbones, but the redhead's face is bitter and his eyes are avoiding his as Genesis suddenly feels close to screaming, bites the inside of his cheeks instead.

How can Angeal not see? Not notice how everything has changed and can never be the same again? Genesis might be an idealist, a fool for romance and adventure, but he is no simpleton. If anything, he is all too aware that they are only losing and losing, running out of time, equipment, funds, manpower, chances...

Losing themselves.

How can Angeal not see that the world turned against them? Even his precious little pup is out to hunt them down, a young wolf ready to show his supremacy by being a dog on a leash.

Genesis knows Angeal wants to go back to the pretty illusion of being a knight in shining armor, a saviour and a saint for the people; back to noble pride and dutiful service and rightful greatness. But he won't go without him, and Genesis can't live those lies anymore.

Too tired. He is too tired to even feel the comforting heat of his rage against the world that denied him and watched him fall. Now, he is just sick of it all, lets Angeal pull him into a tight embrace, opens his mouth to the tongue seeking entry almost reflexively.

The moment one large hand slides to tie into his fading hair, to cradle the back of his head, their eyes meet, and Genesis closes his, presses closer with a shudder that has little to do with desire.

Genesis knows Angeal wants to make it all better, but the look in his eyes says he is hurting too. And this is where it starts, or maybe rather this is just where it becomes something else, something so much deeper, sharper. This is where it becomes so glaringly obvious. Because as the days pass, Angeal is slowly cracking on the inside, Genesis can see it. Where he resigned to his fate, Angeal is torn.

The wheel of fate has turned, and he tries to be strong, for the first time in his life, for Angeal. But it is so hard, this change of roles, and he doesn't know how much longer he can take this, to give strength and reassurance when he has none and his own determination and hope is wearing so threateningly thin.

But in the end, he is a true hero, and if he has to go down, he will go down fighting.

There is no other way.


End file.
